“Citizens Against Government Waste is Washington's leading opponent of pork-barrel spending.”- Washington Post

CAGW Names Rep. Mike Rogers November 2018 Porker of the Month

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) named Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) November 2018 Porker of the Month for being a leading proponent of a wasteful and duplicative sixth military branch called the Space Force.

On June 18, 2018, President Trump directed the Department of Defense (DOD) to begin the process of creating the Space Force, even after Congress rejected the plan on November 8, 2017. Undeterred, House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces Chairman Mike Rogers announced his intention to introduce a stand-alone bill in 2019 to authorize the creation of the Space Force.

Among other problems with creating a new military branch, Rep. Rogers is ignoring the astronomical cost in dollars and bureaucracy. A September 14, 2018 Air Force memo estimated the cost of a Space Force to be $13 billion over five years, including an initial $3 billion to stand up the force. A sixth military branch would also create an entirely new and duplicative bureaucracy. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson stated that the Space Force would “make it more complex, add more boxes to the organization chart, and cost more money.” Secretary of Defense James Mattis also lobbied against a Space Force in July 2017, calling the formation of an additional branch “premature” as he sought to “reduce overhead” at DOD.

CAGW President Tom Schatz said, “The Space Force is another example of politicians pushing to create a new program instead of maintaining and improving an existing one. Several military officers and experts agree that this is a waste of the taxpayers’ money. The United States is capable of expanding our military presence into outer space while respecting the gravitational pull of fiscal responsibility.”

For leading the effort to create a costly Space Force, CAGW names Rep. Mike Rogers it’s November 2018 Porker of the Month.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. Porker of the Month is a dubious honor given to lawmakers, government officials, and political candidates who have shown a blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers.